Senate and House negotiators agreed on a bill that retained the House's "loser pays" provision if a claimant turns down an early offer after requesting it:

A claimant who rejects an early offer and who does not prevail in an action for medical injury against the medical provider by being awarded at least 125 percent of the early offer amount, shall be responsible for paying the medical care provider's reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in the proceedings under this chapter.

Both houses are expected to pass it next week and then it will go to the governor. The Union Leader has details.

This article explores the potential value of insurance as a substitute for government regulation of safety. Successful regulation of behavior requires information in setting standards, licensing conduct, verifying outcomes, and assessing remedies. In some areas, the private insurance sector has technological advantages in collecting and administering the information relevant to setting standards, and could outperform the government in creating incentives for optimal behavior. The paper explores several areas in which regulation and other government-oriented forms of control are replaced by private insurance schemes. The role of the law diminishes to the administration of simple rules of absolute liability or of no liability, and affected parties turn to insurers for both risk coverage and safety instructions. The paper illustrates the existing role of regulation-through-insurance in various areas of risky activity, and then explores its potential application in additional, yet unutilized, areas: (1) consumer protection; (2) food safety; and (3) financial statements.

St. Louis businessman John Brunner and former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, both candidates for the U.S. Senate Republican nomination, sparred over tort reform in a debate last week. The News-Leader has more.

Memorial Day was originally known as "Decoration Day," a reference to the practice of decorating the graves of war veterans. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May. On May 2, 2000, then-President Bill Clinton issued a memorandum calling on Americans "to pause for one minute at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Memorial Day, to remember and reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to provide freedom for all."

You can find more information about the history of Memorial Day from the History Channel.